If you print and store this document, you may be looking at an outdated version and this may impact on your duty of care. Always check the latest version in the online manual before taking action under this procedure. Please make sure the printed procedures are kept securely.

Case plan preparation and review

Introduction

Section 168 CYFA requires the Secretary to prepare a case plan when a child is found to be in need of protection, that is at substantiation and to ensure the case plan is consistent with any order made by the Children’s Court. All case plans must include a permanency objective (s. 167). If a court order is subsequently made, the case plan and the court order need to be aligned.

This procedure covers:

preparing a case plan for a child following substantiation

reviewing and preparing a new version of a case plan for a child after one of the following orders has been made:

family preservation order

family reunification order

care by Secretary order

long-term care order.

Preparing a case plan following the making of a therapeutic treatment (placement) order

Reviewing a case plan when required or when requested.

Procedure

Case practitioner tasks

At substantiation

Record the substantiation decision in CRIS. CRIS will generate a blank case plan at this point.

Prepare the case plan.

Involve the child, parents, carers and professionals in developing the case plan.

Where the child is Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, ensure this is accurately recorded so the correct case plan template generates in CRIS, and refer for an AFLDM meeting within 24 hours of substantiation.

Use informal meetings and discussions to discuss the case plan where sufficient.

Formal case plan meetings are not necessarily needed to develop case plans. As far as possible, engage children and families in a conversation about the case plan and seek their input. The family-led decision making process can be very beneficial. A formal, convened meeting may be appropriate when needing to harness wider family involvement, where agreement cannot be reached or at parent’s request.

Develop or arrange for the development of a cultural plan to be given to an Aboriginal child in out-of-home care and record the date given to the child in the case plan.

Ensure the case plan includes a permanency objective.

Child protection does not have the authority to make plans or decisions for parents. The court may include conditions to be observed by parents on an order, and these are provided with a case plan. Parents may make decisions about how they will respond to the protective concerns identified by child protection, and a parent’s decision may be reflected briefly in the case plan, with their agreement.

Develop or revise a client contact statement setting out the level of contact to occur between child protection and the child. Generally, for an allocated case, fortnightly contact is a reasonable minimum. Include in the statement how direct contact will occur (when and through whom) if the case is not allocated or when an allocated practitioner is on leave. Record the client contact statement on CRIS. Review the client contact statement at least quarterly within supervision.

Prepare the actions table that is to accompany the case plan.

Submit case plan for endorsement.

Provide the parents and child with a copy of the endorsed case plan within 21 days of the substantiation date.

When practitioners provide formal documentation to families, such as case plans and court reports, they should draw attention to the client details and ask the family to check that the information is recorded correctly. This will provide regular opportunities for children and parents to check their information is accurate, including about Aboriginal identity and update records if Aboriginality is identified further into child protection involvement.

It is possible that families who have not previously identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander may wish to at a later time and practitioners need to be sensitive and accepting of this.

As soon as a child is identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, ACSASS should be advised of the report and consulted on all significant decisions. The CYFA requires that an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander child's cultural plan aligns with their case plan.

If the matter is also before the Children's Court, consult with the Child Protection Litigation Office (CPLO) or your divisional legal representative, and notify the Court in writing that the child's Aboriginal identity has become known.

Provide the child, the parents and anyone else affected by the case plan with a copy of the department’s internal review policy about their right to request a review of a decision and the process to do this.

If the matter proceeds to court, include a copy of the case plan in the court report.

Review the case plan when required. When working with a family by agreement the case plan is to be reviewed at 90, 120 and 150 day mark if the case is still open.

Review the case plan when:

A child has been in out-of-home care for a cumulative period of 12 months if

they are under an IAO and

the permanency objective is family reunification

Whenever there is a significant change in circumstances for the child.

When endorsed, provide the new version of the case plan to the child and parents within 14 days of endorsement.

CRIS saves an endorsed version and any previous endorsed versions and allows you to develop a new version and save a draft version of the case plan.

After a final court order has been made

Review the case plan if the order or any condition is inconsistent with the current endorsed case plan; and

Develop or arrange for the development of a cultural plan to be given to an Aboriginal child in out-of-home care and record the date given to the child in the case plan.

Update the actions table when required and provide the current version to the child and parents and to those included in the actions table.

Provide the parents and a child over 10 years with a copy of the endorsed case plan within 8 weeks of the order being made. Ensure a review date is recorded in the case plan.

Provide the child, the parents and anyone else affected by the case plan with a copy of the department’s internal review policy about their right to request a review of a decision and the process to do this.

Section 169 CYFA states that a case plan must include a date for review within 12 months of the date of the case plan. See Case plan implementation.

Review the case plan not later than six weeks before the protection order expiry date, or annual anniversary date if the order is greater than 12 months.

Review the case plan when:

A child has been in out-of-home care for a cumulative period of 12 months if

They are under a family reunification order, or care by Secretary order; and

The permanency objective is family reunification

Whenever there is a significant change in circumstances for the child.